Binghamton Restaurant Week is a great time to try new restaurants. It’s also a perfect time to revisiting places you haven’t gone to in a long time.

That’s the case with Southside Yanni’s at 1200 Vestal Avenue, at the Corner of Vestal Ave. and South Washington Street on Binghamton’s Southside.  We haven’t been there in years.

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back, comfortable combination of restaurant and corner sports bar with convenient off-street parking behind the building.

The food, however, ascends far above pub-grub.

For our Restaurant Week deal of 3 courses for $20, we enjoyed the Buffalo Shrimp Kabob appetizers, large tossed salads,

Kathy Whyte/ WNBF News photo
Kathy Whyte/ WNBF News photo
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Greek Stuffed Chicken and an enormous serving of Mussels Mediterranean before moving on to carrot cake and cheesecake for dessert.

The chicken, stuffed with feta cheese, spinach was moist, tender and perfect, served with a side of string beans.

The Mussels Mediterranean had more than enough shellfish for

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sharing, served over linguini in a perfectly spiced marinara sauce.  The mussels were so melt-in-your mouth tender since, it turns out, the chef cooked them right in the sauce, allowing the acid from the tomato to further tenderize the shellfish.  In return, the mussels imparted some of their flavor into the sauce.

The carrot cake was moist and flavorful without overdoing the amount of icing, which often buries the flavor of the cake.

The cheesecake was velvety and artfully plated with drizzles of raspberry sauce.  Again, the presentation being quite a departure from what you expect from ‘bar food.’

Special props to our server, Chrystal.  What a delightful girl who took a few moments to talk to us and even pop back into the kitchen to get chef to give up his mussel preparation secret! The service was also surprisingly fast since Chrystal was the only waitress serving the dining area.

Even if you aren’t a sports nut, enjoying all the large-screen televisions all over the bar and dining area, you can’t help but relax in this comfortable and inviting space.

Restaurant Week is almost over, but Southside Yanni’s is affordable and delicious anytime.

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